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WERA Round 9: BeaveRun Recap (Tough and Tight)
Joe, Doug and I left early Friday morning for the Beave. We swung by Honda East on the way to pick up the bike as Tom had taken it back with him from Grattan. After being thrown up on the dyno, the bike was running well, although down a little on horsepower compared to the more aggressive build it originally had.
We arrived to the track around 1:00pm and it was damp from rain earlier in the morning. We set the bikes up and decided to go out there and get our feet wet as the track dried. Between dealing with Brent (Bennett, very pleasant) and Eric (Spector) who were running the trackday, we were able to get out in the last session of the day and put in some laps. In about eight laps, a 1:00.0 showed on the lap timer, which was a good start.
Saturday morning was wet and cool. We skipped most of practice and got ready for the Middlweight Solo race. On old tires, we started from the 6th row and made our way through the pack to finish 2nd behind Sammy. The gap at the line to him was about one second. I had a shot to challenge him on the last lap, but I think he was just coasting by that point anyway. Our tires had 40 laps on them but we did set the fastest lap of the race at a :59.2 – only a tenth off my personal best time. My dad crashed out of his race on the last lap, after dicing it up with a young gun-kid on a 125. His tires were past their prime and we should have mounted new ones on beforehand. He did set his personal best lap though and the overall damage was minimal, aside from a bent fork that he still ran on Sunday.
Sunday morning was off and running. We made some changes to the bike and by the second practice, we were down to a :59.1, which was a tenth off the top spot on the timing sheets. With it being a three-region event and 30+ 600's running around on a tight little track, we were as fast as anyone there – almost. What wasn't appearing was that Robert Jensen wasn't running a transponder, and as a former AMA contender who's profession is racing (that's all he does – he races every weekend), he was ahead of everyone else by a solid second or so.
First race was 600 Superbike. We were stuck starting in the second wave. Lovely. At this level, when you're in the second wave, your race is over before it starts. After coming around in 15th or so after the first lap, We finished 11th. We did a :59.1, which was a decent time, but with eight-lap sprints, there just wasn't enough time to play catch up.
750 Superbike. We finished 4th. Not a bad race, considering this was another near-30 bike grid. I was behind Allan Pett for a lap and by the time I got by him, the front three had checked out. We did manage to close up and finish three seconds behind Blake Kelly who had won the race, but we should have been up there challenging for the win. All of us in the top four were within a tenth or two of each other. Congrats to Blake's win, as he's had a real rough year. He kept it on two wheels and put in a solid race.
We had a bit of a time gap before the 600 Superstock race and mounted a new rear tire. I don't think we needed it, as the rear was working well up until that point – but better safe than sorry. We were gridded in our best spot of the day, on the third row. After a good start and passing some people, we crossed the line in 6th. Not bad considering the fast company (Robert Jensen, David Rose, Brent Bennett, Sam Gaige, Jason Palmer) that were ahead of us. We were closing on Palmer, but again ran out of laps. The good news was we got down into the 58's – finally. Further back Eric (Spector) was dicing with another rider (James Dilinger) and crashed trying to pass him, knocking himself on the head pretty good. Fortunately he didn't take James out with him.
Last race – 750 Superbike. Started towards the back and finished 7th. Times weren't that great and I couldn't pass the guy in front of me because of a waiving yellow all race in T10. I should have passed him somewhere else, but I couldn't make it happen. I thought I could draft him to the line, but he had a bit more motor than I thought. Maybe we should have stuck with the aggressive motor build. Robert Jensen checked out, but the rest of the pack was pretty close together. Some better fortunes into T1 and we could have been further up in the results.
I think I've really been able to step out and get up to speed quickly as the morning begins, which has been shown by frequently leading the practice charts. What isn't happening though compared to last year is dropping that solid second once the race starts. Part of that may still be me. I'm pushing at 80-85% in practice, but I haven't been able to flip that switch come race time. I know there are areas I need to push harder to get the times and I've either got to get comfortable doing it – or just do it regardless of comfort level. The injury may still have something to do with that, as much as I don't like to use that as an excuse. I haven't been going into some corners thinking I might fall; I've been going into them thinking I'd rather not fall.
On the positive side, we went nearly a second faster than the last time here and a few tenths faster than my best time ever around Beaver. We were among only a handful of riders in the 58's and moved forward throughout every race. With the competition present though, it just wasn't enough.
[Photos courtesy of Jeff Kovack – http://www.viphotography.ca/]
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About This Entry
- You're currently reading "WERA Round 9: BeaveRun Recap (Tough and Tight)," an entry on Witchkraft Racing.
- Published: 09.2.08 / 6am
- Category: Race Reports
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Now that’s what I’m talking about….. personal best lap times and not getting passed in any race. Just moving ahead. Getting better and discovering new ways to go fast. This is fun!
Yeah we’ve gotten better each round. It’s just come a little slower this year than planned. Thanks Doug ..